persephonehazard

In the imp this is a very dark green; something very herbal, something very woodsy, something even a little bit salty. I like it rather a lot - I think this might turn out to be what I was hoping Hemlock would be, actually. On wet, there's something warm and familiar - dragon's blood, I'm guessing. As I go through a full application it starts to dry down into a pretty straightforward dark green dragon's blood, satisfyingly herbal and witchy, that I think I like rather a lot. There's possibly something slightly medicinal about it, but in kind of a good way - like a fairytale apothecary, or a herbalist witch's garden. Over the course of the next few hours this stays strong, with a decent throw and a lovely woody leafy dark greenyness to it that I find very compelling. There are definitely days when I'd want to wear this, and there's something witchy and protective about it that I like a lot. It's not quite on the big bottle list yet, though - I'll probably want another imp, but Dragon's Hide already does what I'd want this to do if I bought it in 5ml. ETA: Hmm, maybe I spoke too soon? I keep on smelling vanilla in this, which is interesting and unexpected and rather compulsive. Bumped up to 4/5!

I don't know really what to think of Snake Oil. There's a lot of hype, and there's a certain silly part of me that's still fifteen and wants to dislike it because it's so popular. But I'm going to try and swallow that particular show of immaturity and give it a good go, because actually there's a very good chance that I will adore it. Vanilla? Incenseyness? Win! Time to open the imp. My very first thought it that, rather than being something I've not tried yet, this smells familiar. Because this, right, is the smell of BPAL. It's the smell I get when I open my box of perfume. It's what the black velvet pouch I chuck into my bag full of imps when I go away anywhere smells of. It doesn't smell of anything specific that I can discern, but it's got that generic BPALy aroma that, let's face it, is hardly unpleasant — I actually find it quite comforting. As soon as I put it on wet that narrows down a little into something that is more recognisably incense. It's not quite my favourite sort — Beth's ceremonial/churchy incense notes make my knees tremble with their awesomeness — but it's definitely rather nice. It's also warming up with such speed that I can literally smell it changing, sweetening, broadening, and the vanilla is now officially on its way out. The next thing I can't help but notice is that this is powerful. Almost nothing has any real throw on me, so finding something that does it always a treat. This has wrapped me up in it good and close, and I'm pretty happy with that too. As the minutes pass, it's actually just getting yummier and yummier. If it stopped here and stayed like it all day, I'd probably join the Snake Oil Fan Club and start trying to bathe in the stuff. This feeling is only intensified as it turns into the exact smell of a proper hippy gothy shop. The exact smell. I love that smell. And then, um. A weird thing starts happening. My neck starts to sting. I decide to ignore it because I'm not allergic to anything that I know of and it's only my neck, not any of the other places I've applied this. That fades, thankfully, and doesn't come back. By the time I get into work the goth-shop-smell has sweetened into something much more vanillaey, and the two kind of play about with each other all day in an utterly delicious way. By the time I get home, I can still smell it — but more than that, it still has throw. I am amazed. Officially amazed. I might have to hit up the Trading Post and buy myself Snake Oil everything. Damnit, I drank the kool-aid.

In the imp, this is All Melon All The Time. It's almost intimidating in its...melonyness. If I sniff really really hard there's a hint of something a wee bit darker - the tobacco, maybe, or the gin. Mostly it's just melon. I'm a little dubious - I don't even really like melon all that much, not to eat! The smell isn't unpleasant, though; more just overpowering. Once I put it on, thankfully, it starts to warm up. The melon hangs about for a good while - and blimey, this has some throw - but the chilli gradually emerges. Over the longer-term drydown, I fall in love with feeling this one develop. The spiciness - proper hot spicy, too, definitely chilli - remains for a good while, gradually letting through more and more of the cigar tobacco. I'm pretty chuffed, especially when the whole thing melts off into a base note of delicious honey with good staying power. I like. It's not near the top of the bottle list, but it's on it. 4/5. There's nothing quite like this, either, which is also a win.

I got this from the lovely Almond Blossom, from whom I bought quite a few imps and my first ever 5ml. This was one that I mostly picked up because the description intrigued me, rather than because of anything to do with the notes! [grin] It was randomly selected by my boyfriend as the first tester from the new shinies. There's sandalwood in the imp, though I've got that all mixed up with the "residue of ceremonial incense" and am probably smelling one or the other or both all at once. Not a lot else yet, but that's okay; I like sandalwood. It's instantly different on wet, and I can't quite put my finger on quite how. It could be the orris, as I have no real idea what that smells like. It's actually relatively sweet all of a sudden, which I assume is the coconut — and sure enough, after only about thirty seconds it suddenly morphs into a slightly woody aroma when sniffed close and a good throw of All Coconut All The Time. I slather on some more — I'm a real splasher, me, not in the least bit conservative with my application — and head out shopping. Gradually, over the next few hours, it morphs and changes beautifully. First the coconut softens into something more like the woody husk in the description, then the whole thing suddenly gives way into ceremonial incense. It's gone by the end of the evening, but it's been fascinating to follow. 3/5. I like it and it's certainly interesting, but I have a suspicion that it does several things pretty well all of which are done better individually by other things, if you see what I mean.

In the imp - hmm. My first thought is 'toilet cleaner'. I don't get any salt or brine or water from this, which makes me sad. There's also some kind of weird floral I can't identify, and I'm already wondering if aquatics possibly just aren't my thing. On my skin, still wet, it's just the same but remarkably amped. Over the next hour or so it turns into incredibly soapy blue bubble bath with a remarkable throw that tickles my nose constantly. I'm pondering washing it off - and hoping that nobody else is bothered by it, as I'm at work by this point - when, thankfully, it starts to fade. I'm expecting that to be it, game over, when I realise that what it's fading into is a smudge of salt very close to my skin. It's more what I was after but it's very faint, and I have to basically bury my nose in the crook of my elbow to get it at all. This one's not for me, I suspect.

In the imp this is all sexy, sexy merlot and I love it. I'm getting a hint of the roses, too, which I hope don't amp too much - the other rose scent I've tried, Persephone, went all ROSE ROSE on me. I like roses, but I hope that's not a thing my skin chemistry does! I swipe a bit on wet and...oh, hello roses. I like you. Now GO AWAY I want my leathery wine sex please. But no, the roses refuse to leave me alone. They're joined occasionally by violets, but mostly...roses. Oh dear. I think I may be doomed to avoid everything ever with a rose note in it for ever more. It's lovely having one very rosy scent, but I don't need, you know, twelve. Sigh. I shall hang on and see how this one dries down, I suppose. A handful of hours later it's basically vanished, having been pretty much a non-event. To say I am unhappy would be a perfumista's understatement. I freaking love this in the imp. Maybe I should buy a scent locket after all...

I was seriously excited about this one. Church is one of my favourite smells; it's a kind of ancient-smelling incense blend that I adore. Since I was in my mid-teens I've favoured extremely high-church traditional anglo-catholic places; like a little bit of the best part of the romanticised middle ages right in the middle of my weekend. It's magical, is what it is. The grandeur and the drama and the gilt and the reverence...I love it very much, and I love the idea that I could potentially smell like that. I already seem to spend most Sunday afternoons sniffing my hair, with the traces of the smoke clinging to it. After I'd opened the imp and had a good sniff, I wasn't quite as excited as I could have been. Resinous, certainly, and decidedly incensey, but somehow not quite...right; there was something missing, and I couldn't quite figure out what. This held true on wet, but all through the initial drydown it began to warm and broaden until I realised why I wasn't smelling the insence I was after - this isn't a swinging censer during High Mass, this is sitting after the end of the service on a darkwood pew much polished by centuries of use, breathing in the lingering smoke as the last echoes of the enormous old organ fade silently from the air. The throw wasn't brilliant and it wasn't surrounding me in itself as I would most have wanted, but I slathered plenty of it on and waited to see how things developed. And then, a couple of hours later...THERE IT IS. Right there. Exactly what I wanted. That one sniff catapulted the whole scent from three stars to five, from 'hmm I like this imp well enough' to 'OMG I NEED ALL THE BOTTLES NOW'. It smells exactly right, exactly what I was looking for. I'm posting the review now rather than in a few hours time because I don't care what it does next, I'm thrilled :-D I wish it had more throw, of course, and didn't stay so close to my skin, but whevs. I am in love.

In the imp - my, that is green. There's a lot of privet in here, isn't there? It smells just like a neatly-trimmed box hedge on a sweaty-hot day. There's something in there that's a darker and more unpleasant sort of a green, too, but I can't quite make it out. On wet - more privet, and something else I don't recognise. Possibly some kind of clean floral? I don't think I've had a hint of anything woody at all, yet. Initial drydown - I can't quite work out where this one is going. It smells...well, it smells of chemicals. It's got that 'perfume' scent to it. I'm still getting the privet, though, and if I close my eyes and concentrate I think I might be able to detect some kind of young, moist wood. Perhaps the perfumey smell is the shellac? As time goes by it's definitely getting woodier, but also fainter - all of a sudden it has no throw at all and has vanished from everywhere I put it except the crooks of my arms, where it is simply quite faint. I like strong, long-lasting perfumes that you can smell all around yourself like a cloud, and this just isn't doing it for me. I love the idea of woody scents so I was really pleased to try this, but I suspect my wood is in another blend...

Oh my goodness, there's an Anactoria scent? I MUST HAVE IT. There's one particular translation of that poem that I can almost recite by heart. Some there are who say that the fairest thing seen... It looks like it smells yummy, too. Curses! Me and my LE-from-2008 lemmings!

In the imp I'm getting cedar and amber, I think. My lack of experience means I can't be certain, but it's certainly a little incensey and a little woody and very sharp. When I slap a little on wet it's all citrus - very orangey but with a heaviness to it, like if you were burning orange oil. The more it dries the stronger that gets, till all I have is ORANGES ORANGES ORANGES very heavily all down my right arm. After a while this fades out into some kind of dingy floral that I can't really pinpoint yet, though it may have something to do with amber. I'm dying to figure out what it is that amber smells like, but I really am very new to all this. I've no clue what oud is like either, but there's a strange bitter note to this that could well be that. I think I may even be getting cedar, though this isn't anything like as woody as I'd secretly hoped - must keep an eye out for something that really is woody and give it a go! All in all, this hasn't clicked with me. I don't hate it, but I don't love it either - though there's a chance that this is one of a couple of scents I've tried so far that will benefit from a re-test once my nose is a little more experienced.

As today's tester, Hemlock, vanished so entirely from my skin after a few hours I decided to branch out and test a second scent today. This led me quickly to the unexpected discovery that I seem to have not one but two imps of New Orleans. I have no idea why this should be; all I can think is that maybe Beth frimped me two of the same scent? Goodness knows. I certainly haven't ever bought it. But anyway, here we are. I'm certainly getting the "touch of decay" in the imp. I think I can smell honeysuckle, too, and maybe a bit of lemon. It smells fresh and pretty with a slight dark undercurrent, and I'm beginning to think that I might not mind having two imps of it in the slightest. Then I swipe a little onto my skin, and the very second I get a sniff of it wet I begin to rethink that decision. This smells of nothing if not soap. And not just any soap, either - it smells of a nursing home. Just exactly like a nursing home. Sanitisation and cheap stale perfume and the least glamorous kind of impending death. After a short while I start getting hopeful notes of something minty or eucalyptusy and I get my hopes up again, but they're mostly being drowned out by the old lady soap. I wave my arm in my boyfriend's face while he's trying to play the new Star Wars MMORPG and frown. He knows what I mean by now and dutifully sniffs at me. "You smell very...er...clean", he says, trying to be helpful. I wander off muttering about retirement complexes and go outside for a cigarette, which sometimes seems to help perfumes settle in. Once I'm back inside the honeysuckle is much clearer, but the strong overcurrent of soap is still overpowering and I'm really not sure I shall ever want to smell like this, alas.

In the imp, this is all evergreens to me. It's quite fresh and very piney. Dabbed on wet it's much the same, though with sweeter top notes. During the initial drydown the lemon breaks out along with a handful of herbs that I can't distinguish. I'm enjoying this, though I do sort of wish it was fresher and cleaner and brighter. It's definitely nice, though - and that sweetness lingers on for about an hour. As the scent develops it gradually broadens out into dark herbals, smelling like a kind of greenish purple colour. It doesn't last too well on my skin, though, and would need frequent top-ups - after a few hours it's very faint, completely lacking in throw, and actually a bit soapy. Two stars for this, I think, though with the potential for me to like it more after a few more tries - I think this one might be a grower.

Being a complete newbie to all this I wasn't at all sure what dragon's blood smelled like; all I knew was a vague memory of my friend Troy who got me into this telling me it always turned hideous on her so she didn't have any in the stash to try on me. I ordered this because I liked the description, and because I was curious to find out what such an odd-sounding note did on me. I decided to test it today because I was sleepy and anxious and had a monthly review meeting at work that I was stressed about, so I fancied some comforting protection! In the imp this smells quite masculine to me, though also a little floral, and somehow oddly lemony. A quick swipe of the wand and a sniff of it on wet brings out something warm and musky and deep that I rather like - I have to assume that this is the dragon's blood! It smells quite resinous for a while - and though it does have a distinctly soapy phase about an hour in, that morphs through into something that sits well with me, something with a hint of smoke. I'm still not getting any leather anywhere, unless that doesn't come out till the much later in thre drydown. I like this. It's not big or flashy or shocking or anything and I don't think I'd wear it for, say, a night out. But it feels comfortable and protective, warm and musky, and it's a good smell for fragile days. I shall try more dragon's blood - I think it might work for me. My work review went alright, by the way :-)

Full disclosure: I really, really, really want to like this. I've been using the names Persephone or Seph for the best part of a decade now, and if I got to choose my signature BPAL from theme alone...well, she'd be a shoe-in. But anyway. Time to open the imp. The pomegranate smell is very strong and surprises me - it's sweet and juicy and slightly more artifical-smelling than I expected. It's overpowering enough that I'm not getting any rose at all yet, which I actually rather like. My first impression of it when on wet is actually, of all things, acetone. But I'm determined to give this one a good long go, even if it does mean spending the day smelling of nail varnish remover. So I get splashing it on liberally - I always do, even on a first test - and try my very best to ignore the paintstripping tang. And then - joy of joys! About five minutes later, the acetone smell is gone and now everything is screaming ROSES at me. ROSES ROSES ROSES. It'd be nice to get some pomegranate back, but I'm not particularly averse to roses. This is a clean wet youthful juicy rose, and I quite like that. It smells a tiny bit soapy, though. I've now got into work and it's settled down into a strong, young rosy scent with good throw that doesn't seem like it's going anywhere any time soon. If anything changes I'll update the review, but I think this one might be done developing. I do quite like it for what it is, but I really did want more pomegranate :-( Ahh well - I shall hang on to it all the same, and go through the GC in search on a more pomegranatey and less rosey scent. ETA: A couple of hours later, and it's still all rose but it seems to have grown up a bit - it's older, drier, darker, spicier. It's lost that juicy youthful bloom. I can't decide if I'm pleased or not! On a base level I think I prefer this scent, but the former was more what I expected of Persephone. Though bah, where's my pomegranates...

Full disclosure: I've been using the name 'Persephone' online for nearly ten years now, and as I am only twenty-two that is basically MY ENTIRE LIFE. I really want to like this, and am prepared to work for it. I have Persephone itself in my to-test pile, and if I don't love her there is a slim chance I might actually cry. Anyway. In the imp, my first impression is that I am in way over my head with this one. My nose just isn't well-trained enough; it smells almost generic to me - not because it is, but because I can't really pick out notes that well yet. So, as I'm trying to educate myself, I go and look them up in an effort to work out what's what. I think I'm getting the opoponax ("sweet, balsam-like, lavender-like"), but I'm not sure I can pick out the woodyness that several of the other notes are supposed to have. I get much the same wet, and I'm still fighting the fact that my ingorant palate still wants to go MEN'S AFTERSHAVE. I sit there sniffing the crook of my arm like a madwoman all through the initial drydown, but other than a faint herbally scent I don't think I'm finding anything new here yet. It's definitely not unpleasant, but I don't seem to be able to make anything special out of it. After a little while I think I do get something a bit smokey, but that might just be wishful thinking. I wish I was better at this! The floralyness might be the narcissus making its presence known?

I'm immediately taken with this in the imp. The anise is strong, which is excellent as I've always loved liqorish. I'm also getting a rounded, hebally waft, which is gorgeously refreshing after all the heavier scents I've been testing recently. The mint's coming through a tiny bit, even, which I somehow didn't quite expect. On wet, this holds true for a while and the lemon starts coming through with it. I am officially a happy camper. Briefly. It's really not very far into the drydown at all that suddenly, inexplicably, this turns into the smell of a pharmacy. It's not even quite medicinial: it's very specifically the scent of a chemist's shop. I recognise it instantly, but my suspicions are soon confirmed - I have to pop into my local pharmacy that very morning, and as soon as I step in there I know for a fact that it smells like I do just then, only stronger. And it stays that way for the next few hours, right up till it suddenly vanishes entirely. I am sad! The age of the oil might not be helping - I have no idea where this imp came from or how old it was when it first came to me, and that was two years ago. It's been sat in the dark since then, almost entirely unused, but still.

In the imp this smells of ALMONDS. They scream at me so loudly that they are entirely deserving of allcaps. This actually smells pretty much exactly like a cherry bakewell. This loud almondy impression is delicious and holds true wet, and I'm seriously hopeful for the drydown. Initially, the almonds stay and I'm thrilled. But they fade fast into a top note that at first just smells of, well, perfume - that sudden sharp floraly alcoholy scent that always seems to peek out somewhere when I put anything at all on my skin. Thankfully that doesn't hang about for long, and by the time I'm finished with my forty-minute journey into work it's settled down into lightly spiced honey, warm and delicious. There's nothing sexy about this scent, which surprises me. It's decadent without being debauched, rich without being raunchy, sumptuous without being sultry. I love thick, hot, tear-your-clothes-off-with-my-teeth perfumes, but variety is the very best thing of all and it's lovely to have this variant on the theme. At the time of writing - which is rather earlier in the long-term drydown than I would usually post a review, but a few hours in all the same - it's still a gorgeous thick honey with a whisper of pretty spices. I dearly miss the almond that caused me to fall in love with this one in the imp, but it's a definite keeper all the same and warrants a second imp at the least.

Imp - I can definitely smell chocolate here but in a dark, heavy, spiced way. More than anything else it reminds me of crème de cacao and other chocolate liqueurs I've tried. There's something really very insistent here. Wet - It holds true initially, though it's beginning to take on a slightly more floral, 'perfumed' note floating somewhere above the chocolate. Initial drydown - Definitely floralated! It's started to overwhelm the chocolate, actually, which is a shame as I really liked that. Is this lavender? Something like that, anyway; I'm dying to get better at picking out individual flower and herb scents. Hmm...yes, definitely lavender; it reminds me of insomnia. And yeah, that's now basically all I can smell. I like lavender well enough, I suppose, but...come back chocolate! :'( And then I go off out shopping, and as I check up on it occasionally it seems to be developing into a rather night floral blend that I wish I was skilled enough to identify. I can't help but be disappointed, though, as I did so very much love it in the imp. Happily, though, I'm getting the tobacco now - another scent I love very much. Just as I'm walking home I raise my wrist to my nose on the off-chance and oh! joy of joys! the chocolate is back! I'm sat here now, maybe four hours after application, and while it's faint it's definitely got that dark cacao aroma back to it. I do wish it had more depth, more throw, more strength, but I'm happy enough all the same.

In the imp this smells thick and slightly musty; very floral. There's something gorgeously dry and dusty and almost papery about this. I suspect that all those flowers are actually dying, almost rotting. Wet it loses most of that initial mustiness, and is just a jumble of wet wilting flowers. The initial drydown is strong and musty and very steampunk floral still. This imp is bloody ancient which is probably what is causing the musty smell, but I still like it rather a lot. The age of this oil may also contribute to the fact that it fades superquick after that, and before long all I have left is a delicate whisper of dark soapy floral. It's quite nice, though, and I'm pleased to note that it at least lingers for the rest of the day if I bring my wrist close enough to my nose. I have a vague memory that when I first smelled this, two years ago now, I loved it very much. I'll be buying a fresh imp at some point, to see how much the age of the oil is a factor - I desperately want to adore it again!

Imp and then on wet - Lemon and, I fear, chemicals. It's not unpleasant, but it's not quite what I expected. And there's something oddly familiar about it... Very initial drydown - Oh THAT'S what it is! This is suddenly, unmistakably, citronella. It reminds me of torturous camping trips with my parents as a teenager, stuck in a tent in the rain on the Isle of Wight having an argument and surrounded by a perpetual fog of mosquito repellent. A little while later it has warmed up a bit and is less citronella, more like a thin sheen of surprisingly gentle lemon over my skin. I vaguely think there's something salty there too, but that might just be my own natural scent. I'm then unable to track the drydown closely for a while, because I go to bed instead. As I drift off to sleep I can barely smell it, the throw already vanishing. By the time I wake up in the morning it's disappeared completely, not even a whisper left on my wrist. If I ever get into swapping - or, for that matter, have enough stuff that I sell any of it off - I suspect this one will go. For now, though, I shall give it 2/5 (because I am saving 1/5 for things that turn actively repugnant when I put them on) and leave it to linger in the box for a bit. Maybe I could use it in the summer as a mosquito repellent?

Today I'm retesting Wicked, because I really didn't give it a fair shot last time. I was highly inexperienced, for one thing, and even though it was only a few weeks ago I've learned a lot in those few weeks! As soon as I open the imp I'm amazed by the difference - what I read as men's aftershave not long ago now smells of rich myrrh, the slightly soapy smell has revealed itself to be jasmine, the one that tickles my nose turns out to be the "subtlest rose". This holds true on wet, and the myrrh gets deeper and warmer very gradually through the initial drydown. Why in all holy hell did I think this was masculine? It is astonishing how much one can learn in just a few weeks from just sixteen little imps. It settles down into a dark, heavy floral with good throw and reasonable staying power (by my standards; I think I eat perfume) that doesn't morph too much and feels warm and close on my skin. Despite the thematic text, for my style and with my chemistry I actually think this is more an everyday-for-work perfume than anything else, but that's a very good thing - I need more or those! I like this a lot all of a sudden, and will probably consider a bottle when my imp runs out. It has catapulted from 2 stars to 4 with just a little more experience and extra knowledge, which just goes to show that noses = weird. I am leaving my original review below, because the nonsense amuses me ;-) ************************************************************************************** Okay, so after reading the reviews here I'm starting to think that my untrained newbie nose just doesn't know what it's doing. I'm going to stick with what I thought unbiased, though - even if only to smirk at in a year's time when I know what I'm talking about a bit better! Imp - men's aftershave, very strongly. Thick and musky, quite warm and round. There's quite a chemical note to it. Perhaps something a bit citrusy? My nose is seriously untrained; I'm new to all this! Wet - a bit more woodsy, maybe, but still very much with the chemically men's aftershave. Drydown - uh-oh, I think this might be the dreaded powdering I've read so much about! Because suddenly it *does* smell a bit like baby powder. Incredibly strong, musky, powerful, chemically baby powder. It's tickling my nose a bit, actually, and I also feel like I smell a bit too masculine for comfort. Over the day - musky, citrussy, chemicals. Really very masculine. After a couple of hours it fades into a whisper of warm spices without the masculine tang. This I like. Weirdly, though, the musky man smell returns a few hours after that - and then by the end of the day it's settled into a slightly butch dark floral, with undertones of a powdery lavender. I don't dislike it, as such, but I don't think it'll be a frequent re-occurer; 2/5.

In the imp - super sweet and warm and round. Cinnamon and butter and om NOM nom nom. Wet - it starts to smell more sort of...cakey? And I think I can smell the alcohol starting to come out here, though that might just be a sort of generic 'I am perfume' thing. If anything, it's even yummier, and it's staying very true. Drydown - it stays warm and round and utterly delicious. After 15/20 mins - butter and cookies and warm cosy spices, like a delicious hug. I can still smell it all around me, without raising my wrist to my nose at all. Utterly delightful. Then I get into bed and it snuggles up with me, thick and comforting. Next morning, 9+ hours later - It's the first thing I smell when I wake up. It's thinned out a little, lost some of its warmth and depth, but it seems to have stayed very true indeed - and kept a lot of its throw. I love this. I am in love with this. I can't believe I only have half a decant and no clue where to even start finding Christmas-only LE scents that are three years old. I only have this one because a dear friend very kindly gave it to me two years ago, and while I wore it once or twice at the time I had no real idea about perfume or anything back then and didn't think about it much. Now I'm starting to get into this hobby properly I kind of want to *bathe* in it. It is delicious. I don't want to shower it off, but I do very much want to get cracking on today's test-and-review...oh, the dilemma! [grin]